Looking for sphere turning jig

[Paul Lajoie]

Wondering if anyone knows if and where these are available in the states? Saw these used on a YouTube video, tried googling but only found them but all over the pond and all info was in German. The video is turning a cylinder into a sphere. TIA



Paul

 

[Mike Johnson]

Paul,

Do you have link to the YouTube video? I just finished making a couple of sphere turning jigs on my metal lathe I would interested in seeing how these other tools are used.

 

[Bill Boehme]

What Mike said ... I also would like to see how those parts are used. I've only turned a few spheres, but they seem to be pretty easy to do without a jig, just not as fast.

 

[Paul Lajoie]

View: https://youtu.be/gYwo3BTB6Iw
Ok I think this is the link to the video, Hope it helps.

Thank you Paul

 

[Bill Boehme]

I wouldn't call that a sphere turning jig ... it's just one way to hold the wood while turning a sphere by hand. I think that the specialized drive and live centers are unnecessary intermediate tools.

 

[Paul Lajoie]

No they are not necessarily a jig I just couldn’t think of another word to describe them. It just seems to me an easier way of holding and turning the sphere. Combined with the shadow of the turning. Thank you


Paul

 

[Guy Scronce]

Carter and sons has matching cup centers as part of their sphere jig. I once saw a demo where the turner just used them to make a sphere. He used shadows to get the sphere rather than the stand jig that carter and sons also sells. They are a little pricey in my opinion considering you could make one pretty quickly out of wood.
I don’t see the advantage of offsetting the blank shown in the video.

 

[hockenbery]

I am assum8ng you have turned som spheres using other methods.

Those centers look interesting.
It does let you turn away the shadow from the start.
The sanding ring is cool can’t sand a flat with that.


Since you have to turn a cylinder it may not be any faster than the method I use.
I’ll send you a PM. Also the last step uses cups and a cup and 1/2 flat work really well.
Rubberchucky.com has a nice set of cups and points you can turn to make a flat to push the ball into the cup.

You could make an angled sled for your bandsaw cut flats on the opposite corners of your cylinder. Then hold it with cup drive and Clive center.

 

[hockenbery]

I just tried this method and don’t care for it.

You don’t see the outline of a sphere when you spin then cylinder caddy corner
The middle looks close enough to spherical but the ends are way off.
The outline is sort of football with extra fat points.

Didn’t have these centers so used cup without the point in the tailstock and jambed the opposite corner in headstock spindle same way I would turn a 3 corner bowl from a cube.
This is not something to try if you might get a chatch or if you can’t take light cuts.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

Carter and sons has matching cup centers as part of their sphere jig. I once saw a demo where the turner just used them to make a sphere. He used shadows to get the sphere rather than the stand jig that carter and sons also sells. They are a little pricey in my opinion considering you could make one pretty quickly out of wood.
I don’t see the advantage of offsetting the blank shown in the video.

Just to clarify, the company with the sphere turning jig is Carter Products. Carter and Sons is an unrelated company that makes HSS turning tools.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

Google on "radius turning jigs". You'll find lots of ideas to make your own.

Also check eBay, there're quite a few on there from big dollars to affordable.

Ask at the Home Shop Machinist forum. Radius turning jigs are a favorite of metal lathe guys.
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forums/3-General

 

[bowlman]

While the Carter and the Vermec Sphere jigs are each around $400-500, you might consider the Chefware Kit EZ Radius SPhere jig. I believe it is currently around $229. I have used a Chefware kit to turn hundreds of spheres. Of course if you are only turning a few,, then the shadow method or Richard Raffan's method (that's what I learned first) is just fine.

 

[Guy Scronce]

Just to clarify, the company with the sphere turning jig is Carter Products. Carter and Sons is an unrelated company that makes HSS turning tools.

Thanks for the clarification. I was taking about carter products M Chuck. It’s funny, I remember thinking that the demonstrator was really trying to sell those cup centers, but I couldn’t even get the company right.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

I am assum8ng you have turned som spheres using other methods.

Those centers look interesting.
It does let you turn away the shadow from the start.
The sanding ring is cool can’t sand a flat with that.


Since you have to turn a cylinder it may not be any faster than the method I use.
I’ll send you a PM. Also the last step uses cups and a cup and 1/2 flat work really well.
Rubberchucky.com has a nice set of cups and points you can turn to make a flat to push the ball into the cup.

You could make an angled sled for your bandsaw cut flats on the opposite corners of your cylinder. Then hold it with cup drive and Clive center.

Send me that PM too please.

 

[Tom Albrecht]

While the Carter and the Vermec Sphere jigs are each around $400-500, you might consider the Chefware Kit EZ Radius SPhere jig. I believe it is currently around $229. I have used a Chefware kit to turn hundreds of spheres. Of course if you are only turning a few,, then the shadow method or Richard Raffan's method (that's what I learned first) is just fine.

Do you have a link to the Raffan method? I like his methods.

 

[Paul Lajoie]

I am assum8ng you have turned som spheres using other methods.

Those centers look interesting.
It does let you turn away the shadow from the start.
The sanding ring is cool can’t sand a flat with that.


Since you have to turn a cylinder it may not be any faster than the method I use.
I’ll send you a PM. Also the last step uses cups and a cup and 1/2 flat work really well.
Rubberchucky.com has a nice set of cups and points you can turn to make a flat to push the ball into the cup.

You could make an angled sled for your bandsaw cut flats on the opposite corners of your cylinder. Then hold it with cup drive and Clive center.

Yes I’ve turned a couple spheres that actually came out pretty good. These cup centers seemed to me a better way of holding the wood while turning using the shadow turning method. I have not tried the method you show in the video( deviding into half the quarter. But do plan on trying. I thank you for the video.

 

[Paul Lajoie]

While the Carter and the Vermec Sphere jigs are each around $400-500, you might consider the Chefware Kit EZ Radius SPhere jig. I believe it is currently around $229. I have used a Chefware kit to turn hundreds of spheres. Of course if you are only turning a few,, then the shadow method or Richard Raffan's method (that's what I learned first) is just fine.

The title is a little deceiving, Im not looking for thecutting holder jig, but the(“cups”) that hold the piece of wood being turned. Thank you for the info tho.

Paul

 

[Mike Johnson]

Paul,

You might try logging into one of the European E-bay sites and see if anyone lists the sphere turning tools over there. You might find the manufacturers name that way. I spent about $50.00 for materials and several hours on the metal lathe to make the sphere turning jig that can make a sphere up to about 14" in diameter depending on the size of lathe it is installed on. The German system does look interesting as you could use a hard wood dowel any diameter cut into lengths to quickly get them roughed into a sphere. Every system out there normally requires chucking the sphere between cup centers to clean the ends of the sphere up where it was chucked up on the lathe.

 

[Clifton C]

Have you seen this way? It may seem a bit fiddly, but it does work, I use it on most of my spheres
http://www.davidreedsmith.com/Articles/ScoopOrnament/SphereTemplate/SphereTemplate.htm
He also has a few DIY cup center ideas.

 

[hockenbery]

Yes I’ve turned a couple spheres that actually came out pretty good. These cup centers seemed to me a better way of holding the wood while turning using the shadow turning method. I have not tried the method you show in the video( deviding into half the quarter. But do plan on trying. I thank you for the video.

1. I turned a ball using the German video method today.
Did not have those centers but chucked a cylinder on the diagonal.
The shadow image is not a sphere but it’s sort of close in the middle section.

2. The method I show is like training wheels for spheres and curves. By cutting a a lot of flats you get something close to a ball then you just cut off all the little points and a sphere is left. this forces the learner to keep cutting on or above the sphere surface.
http://aaw.hockenbery.net/Turning a ball basicsforweb.pdf

3 There is a good thread on sphere layouts started by Dennis.
http://www.aawforum.org/community/i...-aid-for-turning-spheres-without-a-jig.12187/

4. If you turn 5-6 spheres in a day using a marked layout. The next day you will be able to do away with most of the marking because you can just cut of corners without the marks getting rid of the bulk of the waste and then turn by eye. You have trained yourself using the layout not to cut too deep and stay above the surface of the sphere.

At home I only mark the center and ends of cylinder where I part in. I do use a ring a check for round.

 

[John Tisdale]

While I have not used it, there is a sphere tool available at www.theokspindoctor.com Keith Clark in OK City, OK is the "OK Spin Doctor".
I have used his steady rest and other tooling and will continue - it's quality product.
John

 

[Mike Johnson]

Here is one of the sphere cutting tools I made for one of my smaller lathes. The base on this one has a step in the base which centers the jig between the ways so all you need to do is tighten the bolt down to secure on the ways. Depending on the lathe being used I have a spacer that raises the tools post to the correct height to bring the cutter up to the spindle center. There are two bearings in the base, one on the top base and one on the bottom base. On my larger lathe I can turn about a 16" diameter sphere with this tool.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Made another sphere turning jig for another lathe that cam into the shop this week.

 

[Richard Coers]

Here is one of the sphere cutting tools I made for one of my smaller lathes. The base on this one has a step in the base which centers the jig between the ways so all you need to do is tighten the bolt down to secure on the ways. Depending on the lathe being used I have a spacer that raises the tools post to the correct height to bring the cutter up to the spindle center. There are two bearings in the base, one on the top base and one on the bottom base. On my larger lathe I can turn about a 16" diameter sphere with this tool.


View attachment 28714

You may have the capacity, but doesn't a bar of that diameter and length really vibrate and buzz? The Carter jig is worth every penny in my opinion, just for the micro adjustment if nothing else.

 

[Mike Johnson]

The cutter bar does not extend that far when you are cutting wood, you normally have it as close as possible to the vertical post, I then use the back end of the cutter bar to swing the cutter from side to side. I might make a larger diameter base plate that the pivot bar rotates on to provide more support for the flat bar that supports the vertical post. I usually turn pine spheres for molds which is pretty easy to turn compared to most hard woods.

 

[Doug Rasmussen]

There's a way to make, both concave and convex, spherical surfaces without the usual turning. It's used for ultra precision in optics among other places. But it's a natural for wood with a bit of a setup with a drill press or milling machine.

A couple of youtube videos show the process. If the link below doesn't work search youtube for "making a sphere on a milling machine".

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=making+sphere+on+a+milling+machine+

The next picture shows an adjustable tool holder that determines diameter. A tool holder like this is only needed for high precision spheres.


Next is a diagram with an example of the math involved for high precision.



Here's a sample I did by slowly hand turning the lathe as the cutter is fed down in the drill press. Crude setup using an adjustable hole cutter, does a good job though. You have to be able to chew gum and walk at the same time so best to have someone else turn the lathe while you handle the drill press down feed.

In this case I moved the floor model drill press over to the lathe so the spindle was centered over the lathe spindle.

 

[Mark Jundanian]

That's pretty much how the process is performed on a rose engine or ornamental lathe.